Only a Cowboy Will Do--Includes a Bonus Novella

by A. J. Pine

  She pressed her lips into a smile. “That’s a real sweet take on the whole situation. But I’m not sure I’m going to find my thing during a two-week stay at a guest ranch. I mean, I love the whole ranch experience and all, but I’m pretty solid on the fact that whatever my thing is, it’s got nothing to do with stables and trail rides. Though I would not object to another trip to that swimming hole—maybe with less of a crowd, though.”

  He felt her cheek warm in his palm, which matched the heat growing from his insides to his fingertips. “The list,” he said. “That about finding your thing?”

  She shook her head. “It’s more about getting back a thing or two I might have missed out on when I was younger.” She closed her eyes. “Like skinny-dipping at a swimming hole,” she said softly.

  She needed to stop saying skinny-dipping. Just the thought of such an activity elicited a reaction behind the button and zipper of his jeans—one he was grateful she couldn’t see.

  He licked his lips. “Why are you closing your eyes?” he whispered.

  She gave him a nervous smile, eyes still shut.

  “It’s like making a wish on my birthday candles. You close your eyes for the magic to happen—and so as not to embarrass yourself in front of a handsome cowboy who already knows too much.”

  “But you already told me about that wish. Truth be told, though—you should be careful what you wish for, Jenna Owens,” he said. “Because I have the power to make that wish come true. And I just might do it.”

  The only problem was that if she asked him to grant any wish of hers—list or not—he couldn’t imagine saying anything other than yes.

  She opened her eyes. “I’m counting on it.” Then she cleared her throat. “Now, about this dessert and doing-things-out-of-order tonight. I’m a little curious on what you have planned for my good-night kiss. Do you think I might be able to get a little preview?”

  His pulse quickened, and he heard a little hitch in her breath as he leaned closer to her, his lips almost on hers but not quite as he said, “If I did that, beautiful, what would you have to look forward to?”

  It took everything in his power to pull away without letting his lips touch hers, but he did it.

  She drew in a sharp breath, her eyes going wide. “Colt Morgan, how dare you tease me like that.”

  Uh-oh. He had a feeling Jenna was prepared to match his teasing and likely raise the stakes even higher.

  He looked forward to it.

  “We’re here,” he said. “We should go inside.”

  “I’m confused,” Jenna said, standing in front of the painted green door of the bookshop known as Storyland. “You asked if I wanted dessert first.”

  Colt nodded. “That I did.”

  “But this is a bookstore,” she added, stating the obvious.

  And because he could answer obvious with obvious, Colt said, “That it is.”

  She crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look.

  “So,” she said. “A man who likes to tease and who is full of riddles, huh? Well, we’ll see how the shoe fits when I’m wearing it.”

  His brows drew together, and he tried not to laugh.

  She groaned. “It’s a metaphor. The shoe is our next date and me wearing it means me planning it, and you’re not going to be too happy when that happens, mister.”

  This made him smile, which only seemed to infuriate her more, even if that fury was a bit of an act.

  “Mr. Morgan, what has got you grinning at me like the cat that ate the canary when I am clearly indignant?” she asked, but he could see her fighting a smile of her own.

  He shrugged. “You said next date, which means no matter what happens tonight, you already want there to be a date number two.”

  She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. “Isn’t that how flings work?”

  He shrugged. “That they do. But what if I fail miserably tonight? Who’s to say you won’t realize you’ve chosen the wrong guy for the job once I fall flat on my face planning an evening for you. But since you’re so confident in my abilities…”

  She swallowed, and he hoped that had something to do not only with his date-planning abilities but also certain abilities he’d displayed their first night together and again outside the ranch’s dining hall. He raised his brows. “Maybe you’re a little indignant about my teasing, but you’re also so damned fond of me, you’re already planning our second date.”

  He pulled the door open, and a small bell above the door frame rang as he did.

  “After you, second date,” he teased.

  Jenna blew out an exasperated breath. “Possum,” she spouted at him, then strode through the opened door.

  All indignation faded away as she spun to face him, a smile spread from ear to ear. She kept spinning in a slow circle, taking in the light wood floors lined with dark cherrywood shelves; the purple-painted walls and exposed beams along the ceiling; the bay-window reading nook piled with pillows and a short staircase leading to the second level where each stair was painted to look like the spine of a book.

  Jenna stood at the base of the staircase reading each spine aloud.

  “The Handmaid’s Tale, On Beauty, Beloved, Little Women, The Joy Luck Club…” She turned to face him. “They’re all books by female authors.” If it was possible for her smile to have grown exponentially, it had.

  “My store, my design,” a woman’s voice said from over Colt’s shoulder. “No one has to love the same books I do, but they sure as hell have to read their spines every time they want to use the restroom or visit the café.”

  He stepped aside so that he and Jenna were now standing in a half circle with a woman whose long gray braid hung over her left shoulder. Under her right arm she held a small-ish beagle like a football.

  “Jenna Owens, meet Trudy Davis. This is her shop. And this”—Colt moved to Trudy’s opposite side so he could scratch the dog behind his ears—“is Frederick.”

  Jenna reached out her hand to shake, but Trudy waved her off.

  “Nonsense, sweetie. As long as you’re in town, you’re family. And don’t worry, Frederick doesn’t bite. He can’t. Had to have most of his teeth pulled on account of his age. He might gum ya, though. Just a fair warning.”

  She pulled Jenna in for a one-armed hug, and Frederick let loose a soft howl.

  “Don’t mind him,” Trudy said as she backed away. “He’s always been a little anxious, but ever since the fire last summer he’s been downright insufferable. Glued to my side day in and day out. And because his arthritis outranks mine, I carry him up and down the stairs. Were you two coming up to the café to start? Churned a fresh batch of strawberry this morning just for you, Colt.”

  Jenna blinked and looked back and forth between Colt and Trudy.

  “Fire?” she asked. “Fresh batch of strawberry? Does that mean ice cream? A bookstore that makes its own ice cream? I have so many questions.”

  Trudy laughed. “Come on upstairs, honey. The café’s empty, so we’ve got the whole place to ourselves. I’ve got stories upon stories to answer anything you want to ask.” She turned her attention to Colt. “Why don’t you go and grab a pile of books you think she’ll like while we get to chatting. Then we’ll see how well this night is going to go.”

  Trudy put her free arm over Jenna’s shoulder and began leading her up the book-spine stairs.

  “Wait a second,” Colt called after them. “You’re kicking me out of my own date? You’re the bookstore owner. Aren’t you supposed to find us a pile of books and try to sell them to us?”

  But Trudy and Jenna kept on up the stairs, already lost in conversation like they’d been friends for years.

  Great. He’d known Jenna for a handful of days. How did he know what she liked to read or if she was a reader at all? He’d brought her here for the ice cream. That was his surprise. Now he was tasked with picking the right books to impress her or show that he knew her? That, he knew, was well outside the confines of fling requirements. He’d rather s
pend the rest of the evening refinishing the shop’s wood floors. At least that he knew he’d get right.

  He snapped out of his poor-Colt thoughts when he saw Jenna and Trudy reach the second floor, and Jenna dropped to a squat as Trudy put Frederick on the floor, and then—as if he’d known her all his anxious life—the dog crawled between her knees and curled up on her feet.

  It wasn’t just that Jenna had raised her nephews through their teen years; she radiated a nurturing vibe that was undeniable. He saw it in the way Robert and Maggie took to her, saw it again with Delaney and Barbara Ann, with Melody and Martha at the swimming hole.

  Maybe…

  He scrubbed his hand across his jaw, then remembered Jenna kissing him there, where he’d nicked himself twice on her behalf. But before his mind could go too far elsewhere—like imagining her lips on him again and when or if that might happen tonight after his less-than-amiable move in the car—he saw it.

  The children’s section.

  Colt wasn’t a big reader in his own right, but as more families with younger children started booking stays at the ranch, he—with the help of parent suggestions and Trudy’s expertise—started building up a small library in the lobby of the guest quarters.

  One of the last memories he had of his own family was his mom reading to him and Willow when they were young.

  He tucked a copy of Where the Wild Things Are under his arm. He had his own copy back in his room at the ranch, but that didn’t matter right now. He wanted to share one of his favorites with Jenna—a book he hoped to read to his own children someday—and see if she loved it as much as he did. It would also force him to share something he should have told her on their way up from Oak Bluff. It wasn’t a pile of books like Trudy suggested, but it was an important book. To him that was enough.

  He made his way back to the book-spine stairs and up to the second level. Both Trudy and Jenna were sitting cross-legged in the café’s upstairs window seat—because Trudy loved her window seats—with Frederick now curled up in Jenna’s lap. Both women were laughing as they spoke with animated gestures, and Colt couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. He wasn’t sure if it was aimed at the dog or Trudy or both.

  At least they hadn’t started dessert without him.

  He set the book facedown on an empty café table and nonchalantly strolled behind the counter.

  “Will you be joining us, Trudy?” he called over to the two women.

  She waved him off. “Don’t be silly. I’m not going to intrude on a first date.”

  He laughed as he opened the small freezer under the counter and pulled out the tub of strawberry ice cream.

  “Really?” he called back to her. “Because it looks like you and your dog are hitting it off pretty well with my date.”

  He pulled two chocolate-dipped waffle cone bowls from the Lucite cabinet, dropped them into two glass bowls, and then scooped both himself and Jenna a generous serving of the homemade frozen dessert Trudy made just for them. Colt wasn’t one for calling in favors, but when Trudy told him the only flavors she had today were vanilla and mint chocolate chip, he asked what he could do to get her to find room in the freezer for Jenna’s favorite. He hadn’t expected her response.

  “Take care of my little furballs over the weekend?” Trudy had asked. “Delaney said she could watch my animals at the shelter, but they’d all be so much happier in their own home. Especially Frederick. I’m going to see my sister in Santa Barbara, and it would be such a load off not to have to worry about all my critters.”

  And even though he’d never had a pet in his life and the only animals he truly understood were horses, he’d said yes.

  For strawberry ice cream and the woman who was only his for two weeks.

  When he’d finished preparing their first course, Colt set one bowl on the counter opposite him in front of an empty stool and kept the other—his—right in front of him.

  “That’s my cue to go check on my paying customers,” Trudy said as she stood from the window seat.

  “Hey now,” Colt said with brows raised. “When have I ever skipped out on a tab? Plus, I know better than to mess with one of my all-time favorite people, Ms. Trudy. That you would accuse me of such a thing? Well, it just hits me right here.” He beat his palm against his chest and gave her his best puppy-dog eyes.

  Trudy scooped Frederick into her arms and laughed. “Young man, you are a flirt, aren’t you? Well, keep it coming. If you end up with any books, I’ll go ahead and charge you for those. But the ice cream is on the house. You’re paying me back tenfold by taking care of all my fur babies this weekend.”

  Jenna’s eyes widened, and she stood along with Trudy and Frederick. “Babysitting fur babies?”

  Trudy gave Jenna another one-armed hug. “I’ll let Mr. Morgan tell you all about our little arrangement.” Then she turned her attention to Colt. “Just give a holler if any other patrons wander into the café. The place is usually pretty quiet until about eight o’clock, so you should have the place to yourselves until then.”

  She leaned over the counter and gave Colt a sweet kiss on the cheek.

  “Slow and steady, sweetheart, okay?” she whispered. “She seems a little gun-shy. Let her fall for you and the town, and you’re home free.”

  She straightened, and Colt did his best to couch his expression. He couldn’t respond, not with Jenna sitting within earshot. For some reason, he didn’t want to tell Trudy that she had it all wrong, that the thing between him and Jenna was only a two-week arrangement.

  Saying it out loud to Sam, Delaney, and Barbara Ann had left a bad taste in Colt’s mouth. He didn’t want that tinge of bitterness on his tongue, not tonight. It was fruitless to like Jenna as much as he did already. He got that. But it didn’t mean he had to taint the night with the truth when the truth wouldn’t matter for well over a week.

  “Thanks for the advice,” he finally said and left it at that.

  Then Trudy and Frederick sauntered back down the stairs, leaving Colt to try to figure out why he was growing more reluctant to admit the truth to anyone outside his and Jenna’s arrangement.

  “Hungry?” he said, his eyes meeting Jenna’s.

  She nodded, a smile slowly spreading across her face.

  God, that smile. How had any guy let it go unappreciated, unworshipped even, let alone even dared to hurt the woman behind it?

  He wondered at Trudy sensing Jenna’s trepidation. Or had Jenna flat-out told the other woman about her less-than-romantic past?

  He could still take Trudy’s advice. Slow and steady was as much about protecting himself as it was about showing her that no matter what came of their time together, he was someone she could trust to keep her safe.

  Jenna strode toward him, and had he mentioned her smile? How about her smile in combination with that outfit?

  “Stop,” he said, before she’d made it to the stool. “I mean, wait for just a second. Please.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it up, brows raised in question. “May I?” he asked.

  Her cheeks flushed pink and she shook her head.

  “Not like this, at least,” she said. “It has to be candid, when I don’t know that you’re going to do it. That’s the only way to capture everything a person is thinking and feeling. The only way to catch the true meaning of the moment.”

  He set his phone on the counter.

  “So what you’re saying is that I have permission to take your picture but only when you don’t know I’m taking your picture, and that when I do I will understand all the thoughts and emotions swirling around in that head of yours?”

  She climbed onto the stool and grinned. “Exactly.”

  If only it was that easy to read her thoughts.

  “Now,” she said, glancing down at her bowl of ice cream and then back up at him. “Tell me about this favor you’re doing for Trudy and why we get to eat our dessert for free.”

  Did he want to show his cards this early in the game? Who was he kidding? He�
�d been an open book from the get-go. Why stop now?

  “I knew strawberry was your favorite, but when I talked to Trudy earlier today, she said she wasn’t going to have any until Thursday. So I asked her what I could do to change her schedule and have her whip some up for tonight.” He shrugged. “And now I’m animal-sitting.”

  Jenna sucked in a breath, then bit her bottom lip as she tried to stifle her smile.

  That was when he grabbed his phone, quickly opened up the camera app, and snapped her portrait. After glancing at his handiwork, he spun the phone so the Jenna-filled screen was facing her.

  “Let me see if I got it right,” he said. “You’re thinking, That Colt Morgan is the sweetest, most selfless, and sexiest man to do such a thing for me. And you’re feeling like you could skip the ice cream altogether and just while away the evening kissing me like there’s no tomorrow.”

  Her expression quickly morphed into one of mild disdain, her big blue eyes now narrowed into slits.

  “It was a sweet gesture, but you don’t know me at all if you think I’m going to toss this bowl of heaven to the curb just for a man who prefers to tease me with that kind of kissing only to withhold at the very last second. No, thank you. Ice cream I can count on. Ice cream I can depend on. Ice cream I can—”

  Before she could finish setting him straight, he scooped a spoonful of said dependable dessert onto his spoon and brought it to her mouth.

  She wrapped her lips around the spoon, and her eyes fluttered shut as he pulled it clean from her mouth and she swallowed that first bite.

  “That Colt Morgan,” she began, eyes still closed, “is the sweetest, most selfless, and sexiest man to do such a thing for me.” She blinked her eyes open. “Now you know. Ice cream is my truth serum, and I’m afraid if I finish this bowl—which I have no choice but to do—I’m going to tell you all my deepest, darkest, scariest secrets.”

  He leaned across the counter, dipped the tip of his finger in her ice cream, and spread it onto her bottom lip. She licked it clean away, her eyes turning glassy as he licked his own finger clean.